Living in Danger: Iraq’s cluster bomb legacy

Iraq is one of most the most heavily contaminated countries in the world as a result of cluster bomb strikes in the 1991 Gulf War and during the 2003 invasion. In 2013, the year of the 10th anniversary of the devastating cluster munition strikes, Iraq ratified the Convention on Cluster Munitions banning the use, stockpiling and transfer of the weapon and mandating assistance for victims. Following Iraq’s ratification, a majority of known cluster munition survivors now reside in States Parties to the Convention. These states are legally obliged to ensure that these victims are provided with adequate assistance, including those killed or injured as well as their families and affected communities

Through photographing and interviewing cluster munition survivors, affected community members, clearance experts, and mine risk awareness educators in northern Iraq, this exhibition highlights the devastating impact of cluster munition use. The photos also show how, with support, this terrible legacy is being overcome.

The exhibition is a powerful reminder of the urgency for ALL countries to join this life-saving treaty to end the global threat from cluster munitions.

The below photos are from an exhibition by photographer Sean Sutton, commissioned by the Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC) in collaboration with Mines Advisory Group (MAG). The full gallery of photos from Iraq can be viewed on CMC Flickr.

The Abdulhameed family. Nine year-old Myasar and his eight year-old brother Abdulkarim were killed by an unexploded BLU97 submunition while shepherding sheep at 1pm on 28th February 2012. Their accompanying brother Issa (right) survived the accident but was hit by more than 50 fragments.

Khaled Hussein Mohammed, a cluster munition survivor who lost both legs, one of his fingers, use of an eye and sustained other injuries when he detonated a cluster bomb remnant while farming in Dohuk, northern Iraq.

Two soldiers and two shepherds were also killed on the same land, as well as a boy who was killed picking up a cluster munition while collecting plants with his grandmother.